JPH05138002A - Process gas supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a device supplying process gas to a semiconductor wafer producing and processing device. CONSTITUTION:The raw material gas from a raw material gas tank 1 is evaporated by an evaporator 2 to form process gas which is, in turn, reduced in pressure to be supplied to a semiconductor wafer producing and processing devices 6 through a purifier 4 and a supply pipe 5. In this case, a check valve 9 is provided to the outlet part of a pressure reducing valve 3 and a recovery pipe 10 is arranged to the inlet parts of the producing and processing devices 6. The discharge valves 11 connecting the recovery pipe 10 and the supply pipe 5 are attached to the terminal parts of the devices 6 and a compressor 12, a receiver tank 13, a cooler 14 and a check valve 15 are successively connected between the recovery pipe 10 and the outlet part of the check valve 9 to constitute a process gas recirculating piping system.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for supplying a process gas to a semiconductor wafer manufacturing / processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when supplying process gases such as H ₂ , O ₂ , N ₂ , Ar, and He to a semiconductor wafer manufacturing / processing apparatus, it is usually configured as shown in FIG. Is. That is, the liquefied gas stored in the raw material gas tank 1 is evaporated into a gas body by the evaporator 2 and then decompressed by the decompression valve 3 to, for example, 7 kgf / cm ² , purified by the refining device 4 and supplied as the process gas by the supply pipe 5 It is simultaneously supplied to a plurality of manufacturing / processing apparatuses 6 for manufacturing / processing semiconductor wafers via.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional process gas supply method, if the process gas supply is stopped when part of the manufacturing / processing apparatus 6 is stopped, the end of the supply pipe 5 is dead. There is a possibility that the gas will accumulate in the zone and the process gas may be contaminated, and the quality will deteriorate.

As a method of improving such a defect, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a gas purge pipe 7 is provided at the inlet side of the manufacturing / processing apparatus 6, and a gas purge valve 8 is provided at the end of the supply pipe 5. A continuous purging method in which a process gas is continuously supplied to any supply pipe 5 by connecting (for example, Nikkei Microdevices Separate Volume No.2, Nikkei BP, October 1988 issue, P.196-201: Ohmi et al. See “Branching and merging piping system: Completely remove stagnant parts and achieve ppt impurity level”) is proposed. However, even in such a continuous purging method, since the process gas is released to the atmosphere, there is a problem that it is a great loss in resources and also a cause of air pollution.

An object of the present invention is to provide a process gas supply device which solves the problems of the prior art as described above.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a raw material gas from a raw material gas tank is evaporated by an evaporator, decompressed by a pressure reducing valve, purified by a refining device, and then refined by a refining device. Is a device for supplying as process gas to the pressure reducing valve, a check valve is provided on the outlet side of the pressure reducing valve, and a recovery pipe is disposed on the inlet side of the manufacturing / processing device. Is connected by using a recovery valve at the inlet side of each manufacturing / processing device, and a compressor, a receiver tank, a cooler, and a check valve are sequentially connected between the recovery pipe and the outlet side of the check valve. The process gas supply device is characterized by the following.

[0007]

[Operation] According to the present invention, the process gas flowing through the supply pipe of the stopped manufacturing / processing apparatus is recovered through the recovery pipe arranged on the semiconductor wafer manufacturing / processing apparatus side, and the compressor and the receiver are recovered. Since the process gas is supplied to the inlet side of the refining device at a predetermined pressure through the tank, the cooler, and the check valve, the process gas can be recirculated in a high-purity state, which causes the emission of gas. It is possible to prevent loss.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and the same members as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals. In the figure, 9 is a check valve provided on the outlet side of the pressure reducing valve 3. 10 is a recovery pipe disposed at the inlet side of the manufacturing / processing apparatus 6, 11 is a process gas recovery valve, and a recovery pipe
10 and the supply pipe 5 are connected. Reference numeral 12 is a compressor, 13 is a receiver tank, 14 is a cooler, and 15 is a check valve, which are sequentially connected between the recovery pipe 10 and the inlet side of the refining device 4 and the outlet side of the check valve 9. It

By thus constructing the piping system capable of circulating the process gas, when a part of the manufacturing / processing apparatus 6 is stopped, the recovery valve 11 connected to the supply pipe 6 is opened. The process gas can be recovered via the recovery pipe 10, raised to a predetermined pressure by the compressor 12, and then sent to the refining device 4 via the receiver tank 13, the cooler 14, and the check valve 15.

When the process gas supply system of the present invention was applied to the N ₂ gas supply line, the dew point at the point of use was −110 ° C. and the emission amount was 10 l / min in the past.
In the present invention, the emission amount was naturally 0, and the dew point could be increased to -120 ° C.

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the process gas is recovered by using the recovery pipe and is recycled, it is possible to prevent the gas from being contaminated and to prevent the gas from being emitted. It is a great effect that contributes to cost reduction. Further, since the process gas is circulated through the refining device, impurities in the gas can be further reduced, and therefore the quality of the product can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of a conventional process gas supply device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing another configuration example of a conventional process gas supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Raw material gas tank 2 Evaporator 3 Pressure reducing valve 4 Refining device 5 Supply pipe 6 Manufacturing / processing device 9 Check valve 10 Recovery pipe 11 Recovery valve 12 Compressor 13 Receiver tank 14 Cooler 15 Check valve

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for supplying a raw material gas from a raw material gas tank with a vaporizer, decompressing with a pressure reducing valve, purifying with a refining apparatus, and then supplying it as a process gas to a semiconductor wafer manufacturing / processing apparatus through a supply pipe. Therefore, a check valve is provided on the outlet side of the pressure reducing valve, and a recovery pipe is installed on the inlet side of the manufacturing / processing device.The recovery pipe and the supply pipe are connected to each manufacturing / processing device. It is characterized in that the side portion is connected by using a recovery valve, and a compressor, a receiver tank, a cooler and a check valve are sequentially connected between the recovery pipe and the outlet side of the check valve. Process gas supply device.